---
title: Why might a dam harm a fish that lives far downstream? — China's great rivers: the finless porp… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why might a dam harm a fish that lives far downstream? Test 10 · ★★ of lesson 379 «China's great rivers: the finless porpoise, the lost baiji, Chinese alligators and sturgeon» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; 
---

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# Test 10 · ★★ · China's great rivers: the finless porpoise, the lost baiji…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why might a dam harm a fish that lives far downstream?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** fish · **What happens:** live

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 10 · ★★ of lesson 379 «China's great rivers: the finless porpoise, the lost baiji, Chinese alligators and sturgeon» of the biology course of Mova's primary school. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: [the test at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/379-china-s-great-rivers-the-finless-porpoise-the-lost-baiji-chinese-alligators-and-sturgeon/#t10).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:379-china-s-great-rivers-the-finless-porpoise-the-lost-baiji-chinese-alligators-and-sturgeon:t10:1
# text = Why might a dam harm a fish that lives far downstream?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	1	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	dam	dam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	harm	harm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	fish	fish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
8	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
9	lives	live	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	acl:relcl	_	_
10	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	11	advmod	_	_
11	downstream	downstream	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **live** | present | a fish |  |  |  |  | downstream *property* | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dams drink all the water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:379-china-s-great-rivers-the-finless-porpoise-the-lost-baiji-chinese-alligators-and-sturgeon:t10:o1:1
# text = Dams drink all the water
1	Dams	dam	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	drink	drink	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	5	det:predet	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drink** | present | Dams | all water |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent water=Patient |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It blocks the fish from swimming up to where it lays eggs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:379-china-s-great-rivers-the-finless-porpoise-the-lost-baiji-chinese-alligators-and-sturgeon:t10:o2:1
# text = It blocks the fish from swimming up to where it lays eggs
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	blocks	block	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	fish	fish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	from	from	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
6	swimming	swim	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
7	up	up	ADP	RP	_	6	compound:prt	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	11	advmod	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	lays	lay	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	advcl	_	_
12	eggs	egg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **block** | present | It | the fish |  |  |  |  | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer fish=Theme |
| 2 | **swim up** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **lay** | present | fish | eggs |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent egg=Result |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fish are scared of the dam's dark shadow and will not swim anywhere near it

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:379-china-s-great-rivers-the-finless-porpoise-the-lost-baiji-chinese-alligators-and-sturgeon:t10:o3:1
# text = Fish are scared of the dam's dark shadow and will not swim anywhere near it
1	Fish	fish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	scared	scared	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	dam	dam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	dark	dark	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	shadow	shadow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
11	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
12	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
13	swim	swim	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
14	anywhere	anywhere	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	13	advmod	_	_
15	near	near	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Fish |  |  |  |  | of the dam's dark shadow; scared *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **swim** | future | Fish *not said here* |  |  | shadow |  | anywhere *property* | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme near it=Trajectory |
| 3 | **shadow** |  | the dam |  |  |  |  |  | nom shadow «state transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dams make the fish forget the way

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:379-china-s-great-rivers-the-finless-porpoise-the-lost-baiji-chinese-alligators-and-sturgeon:t10:o4:1
# text = Dams make the fish forget the way
1	Dams	dam	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	make	make	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	fish	fish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	forget	forget	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | Dams |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **forget** | present | the fish | the way |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- div src -->

**Text:** the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (`world/data/school/`), as the course runner gave them to the student. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [China's great rivers: the finless porp…, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/379-china-s-great-rivers-the-finless-porpoise-the-lost-baiji-chinese-alligators-and-sturgeon/t9/)
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- ↑ back to [China's great rivers: the finless porpoise, the lost baiji, Chinese alligators and sturgeon](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/379-china-s-great-rivers-the-finless-porpoise-the-lost-baiji-chinese-alligators-and-sturgeon/)